I'm not a big fan of the winter holidays.
There. I said it. Call me Ebenezer, call me the Grinch, say my heart is three sizes too small. I don't care. For me, there are just too many family pictures to be taken and drunken uncles to clean up after.
Maybe worst of all, is that I have to return to the rolling cornfields of Yorkville, Ill. (you're not supposed to know where that is) and miss the nuances of the men's basketball team's start to the Big East season.
A lot can happen in a month. When school ended on Dec. 13, the Golden Eagles were ranked No. 24 and had only a three-point win over Wisconsin to hang their collective hats on.
After a loss to Tennessee Dec. 16, Marquette fell out of the top 25 briefly. But now, on Jan. 13, Marquette (15-2, 4-0 Big East) is ranked No. 14 and is riding a seven-game winning streak that includes victories over No. 23 Villanova and then-No. 25 West Virginia.
So how did the Golden Eagles get here? I've compiled a brief overview, just in case you were too busy listening to your cousins butcher carols on an out-of-tune piano and watching White Christmas with your parents for the 21st time.
Marquette loses 80-68 against Tennessee in Nashville…
The most encouraging part of this game had to be Wesley Matthews scoring 30 points as the trio of Jerel McNeal, Dominic James and Lazar Hayward went a combined 12-for-34 from the field. I've been waiting for the other sneaker to drop on Matthews, but he's still averaging 18.9 points per game. Scoring 20-plus points on Houston Baptist is one thing, but remaining a threat against a legitimate contender is quite another.
James hits a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to beat NC State…
The minute James' game-winner snapped the net in North Carolina, my cell phone started to buzz. The resulting text message read: "Who said Dom James can't shoot?" I'll admit, I've said that. Many times. I've thought it even more often. I'm not ashamed to admit that, because he is shooting just 31.5 percent from three this season, and an even more depressing 48.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Still, James has had a solid senior season. He's averaging 11.8 ppg, and leads the team with 88 assists and 32 steals against 33 turnovers. He's been even better since the Big East season started, with a 20:7 assist-to-turnover ratio and 14.5 ppg.
McNeal goes 7-for-7 on 3-pointers against Cincinnati…
Who said Jerel McNeal can't shoot?
McNeal was nearly perfect in an 84-50 win over Cincinnati, making 9-of-10 from the field and scoring 26 points. He is Marquette's biggest threat, scoring 18.5 ppg (23 ppg in conference play). His contributions go much deeper – he's third on the team in rebounds per game (4.7) and second in steals (1.6) and assists (3.3).
He can play out of control – some of the shots he chucked against West Virginia Saturday made it look like he was trying to win an RV from Camping World – and he turns the ball over too much. But there's nobody Marquette fans would rather see with the ball in his hands at the end of the game.
Dwight Burke hits a jump shot to start an 81-76 win over Rutgers…
When Burke said before the season he'd developed a mid-range jumper, I had to hold back laughter. This was a guy who averaged 2.5 ppg and 2.9 rpg in his junior season and hasn't improved much in his senior campaign.
Yet there he was, knocking down Marquette's first shot of the game against the Scarlet Knights from the right elbow. He even had the foresight to slam the ball off the backboard and rattle it around the rim first.
Burke's development will be important down the stretch. His numbers have jumped a little since Big East play began, and I'd bet coach Buzz Williams would count himself lucky if he gets Burke's stat line against West Virginia (4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and only 2 fouls) every game. If not, maybe newly-healthy forwards Chris Otule and Joseph Fulce can stabilize the frontcourt.
So there you go — I've gift-wrapped a whole month of ups and downs in 600-plus words. After all, we did just finish the season of giving.